Hints for Iceland in 9 days

Hi,
My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Iceland at the end of June. We are checking the routes and are not sure … We want to see a lot of places but not being on a rush all the time. The accomodation seremos very expensive as well as the car rental. Any tips for this? Do you recommend camping?

9 days should be enough to tick off a few Icelandic highlights like Reykajvik, the Blue Lagoon, Geysir and Þingvellir – the last 3 are close to the capital so are very manageable on a short trip. Definitely include a hike on your trip, if you like walking, as Iceland has plenty of gorgeous treks. The summer months are the best for walking – Reykjanes Peninsula, Laugavegur and Þórsmörk are particularly popular areas. Why not tag on a hot spring, too – Landmannalaugar, Grettislaug and Krossneslaug are incredible.

Car rental, accommodation and food are all expensive, so prepare yourself. Hiring a campervan could help save the pennies, and there are plenty of campsites (usually pretty basic) as you suggest. This will certainly help keep costs down. Wild camping is an option, too, but make sure you seek permission from the nearest farm. Talking of farmhouses, they often offer accommodation, which ranges from rooms in the house itself to hostel-style dorms or furnished cabins. Prices are the same as for guesthouses but if you share with other people you’ll share the sum. Here are a handful of useful accommodation websites: http://www.fosshotel.is, http://www.hoteledda.is, http://www.hostel.is and http://www.farmholidays.is.

If you want to save money on hiring an Icelandic vehicle, you could take your own over on the ferry from Denmark (you obviously have to get to Denmark first…). The ferry is called Norröna (www.smyril-line.com), and it sails to Seyðisfjörður in the East Fjords. Otherwise, book your car rental online in advance and shop around to get the best price. If you can share rental with other travellers, then so much the better.

The brand new RG Iceland (Edition 5) is out on 2nd April (today!) and is packed with helpful tips, itineraries, and beautiful photographs.

Hello – we did a road trip in Iceland over 5 days and we managed to see a lot (but not nearly enough) of the south coast.

We hired a car through Blue Car Rental – they were the cheapest and if you go for an old car it’s cheaper still. We also recommend Hotel Volcano just outside of Vik. Great family run hotel and we did a glacier trek with one of the owners too.

You can easily do the Golden Circle yourself but they are tourist hotspots so go early or later in the day. The snorkelling in Silfra is amazing too, one of the highlights of the trip.